Now available -- The White Deer of Kildare
Dec 20, 2024 4:31 pm
It's here! It's here! Come read all about it!
The White Deer of Kildare
now available for your e-reader,
I am drinking apple cinnamon tea and the moon is glowing through a scrim of clouds. It is midwinter, and I have a midwinter story for you.
This newsletter is full of little bonus tidbits about "The White Deer," and some multi-sensory experiences that I hope you will enjoy. (Sorry, I cannot send you either puppies or apple cinnamon tea. But I will wait if you want to brew some in your own kettle.)
"The Horned Women" was based on a story called—wait for it—"The Horned Women." It opened with the phrase: "A rich woman sat up late one night, carding and preparing wool." I had Maura sewing rather than carding, but the plot was very essentially the same. I added quite a lot of framing, obviously at the beginning but also for the ending. (The original just kind of...stopped.) Meanwhile, I was fascinated by how the story was entirely female-centric, and the heroine is a mother who is just trying to do her chores.
"The White Deer of Kildare" took more manipulation. It is my retelling of a story that I have seen titled "The Birth of Oisín" and also read bits of in other stories about Oisín and Fionn mac Cumhaill (anglicized Finn McCool). In those versions, Saba is a background character, appearing when she is being pursued by her lover/enemy or producing the title character; she fades back out whenever the men are doing their men-things. In my retelling, Saba—the White Deer—is front and center, and we see her even more clearly through the eyes of Maura's friendship.
Furthermore, as I was diving more and more deeply into the emotions and reasoning of the two women I came to some interesting conclusions about Fionn mac Cumhaill. You'll have to see what you think...did I malign the greatest hero in Irish history?
This link should take you to your preferred retailer: Kindle, Kobo, B&N, and Google. Let me know if I'm missing one, except Apple Books is still apparently pending, and pending, and pending...
Grianstad an Gheimhridh: The sun stop of winter
I have tagged this a Winter Solstice story, and I'm releasing it just in time for winter solstice. Why? In the story, it starts with Kaylee decorating for the holidays—they assume Christmas, but then decide that Solstice will be their special event—and the final emotional image is holiday family togetherness. I think that goes to the heart of what many people look for in the winter holidays, but that's not the only reason.
My favorite Solstice element is that I worked in attending the Knockroe Passage Tombs/an Cnoc Rúa into both story lines. I think that was pretty clever within the space of a novella, but moreover, this is one of the things that gives me chills about history. We can go to a place, and really and truly, people and mothers and children stood there two thousand years ago and celebrated the same celestial events. Probably with many of the same essential human feelings.
I wrote more about the solstice in our Substack, with some thoughts about what it means in our lives today. (Both are scheduled to be posted in the morning and this newsletter goes out in batches, so if the link doesn't go through yet then you're just winning the race. You're getting news so hot off the presses that it's basically steam.)
"But wait, I want to be able to see it while I am reading..."
Have no fear, the intrepid Shelties sorted through dozens of pictures of an Cnoc Rúa, and they think you will like this one the best. (Although the music is kind of distracting, sigh.) Now you have a visual context for the two climactic scenes:
(Sorry, this newsletter format does not let me embed video)
One more bonus....
In one of the scenes in "The White Deer," Maura and her children are making holiday ornaments by the fireplace, and they put on music. Probably most of you will recognize the name Enya, but the band "Cherish the Ladies" also gets a flying mention. Other than having a name that made my teen daughter and I giggle for a solid five minutes, who are they?
Cherish the Ladies plays traditional Irish music with pipes and reels. Founded in 1985, they have "forged a path for women in the male-dominated Irish music scene." So they definitely deserved a part in this women-centered fairy tale!
Now, go forth and enjoy the story!
This story still combines family details with fantastical fairy tale elements. "The White Deer of Kildare" has much more historical context, with Maura spending half the story in the third century AD. It also has a richer cast of characters than "The Horned Women."
When this story was mostly written, my critique partner sent me some strongly worded texts about which characters need another story. What do you think? After you read "The White Deer," let me know who needs to come back!
One more time, because it's release day and we wouldn't want you to miss it, here's the link....
And your requisite puppy story....
While I was writing this, I heard the sound of swooshing and sliding, like a heavy coat being dragged across the floor. Swish. Pause. Swa-swa-swish. Pause. Swishhhhh!
After a minute, Malin's tail appeared around the edge of the couch. Then fluffy hindquarters, and a long back. More swishing, and his head comes into view, teeth clutched around some drawstring cords. A few more tugs, and he hauls the little boys' ballet bag around the corner. Now, this is just one of those nylon drawstring shopping bags with a couple 4T t-shirts and tights in it, so why is it so heavy? Why, because baby Inish is sitting on top of it, of course.
May your holidays be as fun as a shopping bag full of puppies.
I hope you enjoy The White Deer! Thank you for reading!
Yours,
Christy (& all the Shelties)
I am writing "The White Deer" in all these pictures. Obviously.
